In light of this thread about the bone tool and it's worth, I thought it might be fun to have a little contest!

THE CHALLENGE
Create an animation of a dancing character (person, animal, alien, whatever) using ONLY the bone tool for movements.

DETAILS & STUFF
- You must post links to your final swf AND fla files here so everyone else can download them and see how they were constructed/rigged! (Will be used for judging too.)
- Use your DUMPING GROUNDS (instead of offsite alternatives) to post your submissions!
- You can tween the character around the stage, but iTS movements must be within/on an armature layer.
- Any audio should be your own (that you made) or come for the Audio Portal.
- There is no time limit to your animation, but the more you can make it do, the better!
- Try to avoid slapping some random google image in the background. If you add something, please create it yourself.
- Using existing/premade art is kind of cheating. So please make something specifically for this challenge.
- If you think your animation is worthy and long enough... feel free to submit it to the portal and share that link here too!
(Or maybe we can lump them all together at the end and turn it into a 'collab'!)
- You can enter as many times as you want to improve your chances (and hopefully your skills!!)
- Voting Options: We can do it where each participant picks their top 3 (can't vote for yourself), or I can assemble a 'panel'. Feel free to voice your preference, otherwise I'll just decide once it gets close to the deadline.
- Also feel free to post WIPs and ask questions here if you get stuck or need help with the bone tool or it's settings! (so we can all learn!!)

DEADLINE
Friday, November 30th - 11:59 PM (NG Time)

PRIZE/S
- The winning submission will get $25 Store Credit which can be used to buy the Supporter Upgrade, a shirt, etc!! Depending on how many people participate, there may be more than one winner (ie. 1st - 3rd).

lol, I'll show you mine if you show me yours! :PThis is what I've been messin' with. Takes forever to get it all rigged... and once you start moving it, you have to tweak where things join, so that's where I'm at.

At 11/19/12 04:42 PM, ziraffe wrote:
well drawn but a pain to watch. it needs easing

lol, thanks, and... sorry :(

I haven't gotten past the constraints and stuff yet ...still tinkering with those pesky joints (been busy and haven't had time to play *cries*). Was trying to see how things work/look as they move... like, on that loop I posted, you can see his 'hip' come out of his ass... and those knees! They're all over the place! Yikes!! I saw something about 'spring' ...is that the same thing as easing?! or is it something different?

At 11/20/12 01:49 PM, nat29 wrote:
SWF

lol, cute!! Glad you took the time to give it a whirl! Thanks for posting! Right now, you're winning! ;D

At 11/21/12 12:22 AM, I-smel wrote:
Wow I actually checked out the bone tool just now and it is NOT VERY CAPABLE!

Hey!
I know a little flash but have never contributed to newgrounds. I wanna enter the bone tool contest. The rules state that the audio must "be your own (that you made) or come for the Audio Portal." Can someone please explain exactly what that means, as in what I can and cannot use? Does that mean ALL audio posted on New Grounds is fair game? Sorry for my ignorance but would like to do it right. Thanks.

At 11/21/12 11:27 AM, benbcraig wrote:
The rules state that the audio must "be your own (that you made) or come for the Audio Portal." Can someone please explain exactly what that means, as in what I can and cannot use? Does that mean ALL audio posted on New Grounds is fair game?

Yep, you got it! You can use anything in the audio portal. So, no commercial stuff.

At 11/21/12 05:19 PM, rambojoe wrote:
I'd like to try but the bone tool option I have is in Toon Boom studios 7. So it dose not have a fla file. Am I just crap out of luck?

I have the trial versions... not sure if I can open your files in that or not, but... what the heck! GO FOR IT!! ...we'll figure it out somehow!! :D

Yep, you got it! You can use anything in the audio portal. So, no commercial stuff.

Thanks ReNaeNae! I'll get to work! Do you think people will be doing full 3-5 minute songs? That seems a bit long for this.

I'd assume the best thing to do would be either a loop, or just cut the song into the piece you want. I'm assuming around 30 second submissions is what would be acceptable, but if you wanna make it longer, good on yah. :D

Do you think people will be doing full 3-5 minute songs? That seems a bit long for this.

I'd assume the best thing to do would be either a loop, or just cut the song into the piece you want. I'm assuming around 30 second submissions is what would be acceptable, but if you wanna make it longer, good on yah. :D

Yeah, it can be as short or as long as you want. Loops are good, but anything goes, really. It doesn't have to be perfectly polished and amazing! It's more about getting people to try the tool, have some fun with it and maybe learn a thing or two!

Can I somewhat participate with this comission cut out animation of a rigged character in toonboom animate?

Or is this method out the contest requirements/ parameters/ rules / potatoes ? : p
This may not have a flash armature layer, but every layer is parented to other so they work as bones to be animated with FK and IK.

btw: toonboom animate pro ple and animate ple may open both ple and licensed projects. Only the software with license may not open the free personal learning edition.

I'd never tried it before, so can't say if it's better or not, but I'm sure you'll come up with something impressive either way.

At 11/25/12 12:10 AM, Atzu wrote:
Can I somewhat participate with this comission cut out animation of a rigged character in toonboom animate?

Toonboom stuff is ok, but as I mentioned in the first post:- Using existing/premade art is kind of cheating. So please make something specifically for this challenge.
...although no one would have known it was made for something else if you hadn't told us. I added that to avoid giving some people an unfair time advantage. But since it's closer to the deadline now, I guess it's ok. So, yeah... go ahead and make him dance. Mashed potato?

btw: toonboom animate pro ple and animate ple may open both ple and licensed projects. Only the software with license may not open the free personal learning edition.